


The Good Ole’ Switcheroo

by ozsia



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003)
Genre: Gen, Multi-verse travelling, serious themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 04:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8357698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozsia/pseuds/ozsia
Summary: The Multiverse was a big, complicated place and losing a brother into what could be any world was sort of a problem. Having to take care of an interloper at the same time as Leo-searching and they were in for a long, long week. Month. However long it took.





	

Really, Leo should have known better. That wasn’t to say that Donnie wasn’t completely at fault for his weird Turtle-Exchanger-Vortex… _thing_ going wrong but, yeah, _hello_. There was a reason that Raph and Mikey had never volunteered. Like, just no.

But Mikey had been a good brother and had tried to talk sense to Leo’s foolish responsibilities for some more sensible self-preservation instincts. Would Leo listen to his words of wisdom? Nope. 

(Mikey should have tried harder.)

A few weeks ago Donnie had had the _brilliant_ idea (sarcasm heavily implied,) to swap out Alternative-Buckle-Wearing-Donatello’s flashlight with an Inter-Dimensional Ninja Turtle Swapper. It had been one of their riskier experiments but what Master Splinter didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, right?

Wrong. Turtle luck went as it usually did. Which was to say _badly._

‘Sooo…’ Mikey had sung as he kicked his legs from where he sat on the edge of Donnie’s reinforced desk (there had been one or two mishaps). ‘If there's another one of our accidents, could I get your room?’ He had grinned, blissfully ignorant of the chaos that was about to be unleashed. 

Leo shot him one of his patented looks. How he pulled it off with Donnie poking and plodding him with what looked like a suped-up version of the missing T.V. remote. was a mystery that only big brothers and the universe would know, Mikey was sure.

Raph hit Mikey over the head from his position stood next to him. He watched the whole thing with faked disinterest, eyes just a tad more narrowed than usual. ‘You sure about this whole thing, Don?’ Raph asks eventually. ‘You’re the brain of this operation but you could send ‘im anywhere.’

Ah. Wasn’t that refreshing? Brotherly love at long last? 

‘I mean, whose gonna take the slack from Mastah Splintah without ‘im?’

 _Or_ close enough. 

‘Thanks, Raphie,’ Leo retorts in that dry way of his. He’s still stood frozen like one big turtle icicle up on the platform Don has made. 

‘Welcome,’ Raph responds. 

‘It’ll be fine,’ Don cuts in as he continued, er…doing whatever he was doing. Mad genius science stuff that Mikey had no hopes of understanding at any rate. ‘I know what I’m doing. I’ve triple checked the calculations and retuned the device. Twice.’ 

‘Yeah, and I’m holding up the connection on our end,’ Donatello from the other dimension said from one of Donnie’s monitors, dorky grin in place. ‘It’s all good.’

Donnie nodded as he straightened from where he was looming over Leo. ‘Leo’s just going to pop over to see our alternative selves. Simple.’ 

Why wasn’t that reassuring? Oh right. The ole’ Turtle Senses had been tingling. 

Raph glanced between the two Dons’ before shrugging though he didn’t seem any less tense as he stood on guard, watchful. Leo seemed to be suffering from some anticipation too because he was squaring himself up and addressing Raph with sharp eyes. ‘Raphael,’ Leo began and _ooh_ full names. ‘While I’m gone on this…jaunt, around the Multi-Verse -‘

‘I keep telling you it’ll be _perfectly_ fine -' Donnie near whines in irritation.

‘Keep up fort. Make sure Mikey stays in line -‘

‘Oi! I’m a good turtle -!’

‘ _Just._ Take care of things.’ Leo continued, unruffled, after a life time of dealing with unreasonable, loud baby brothers who liked to try and drive him mad. 

Raph’s arms drop to his sides. ‘Just don’t be gone too long,’ he responds gruffly before nudging Mikey into saying:

‘Safe travellin’, bro.’ He smiles after some prompting. 

Leo’s expression is slightly crooked but he inclines his head. 

‘Okay. I’m set this side, Donatello,’ Donnie announces before the silence drags on.

‘Ready when you are then,’ Donatello responds, grinning and excited in a way that would always remind Mikey of Donnie when he had first touched a computer. An old thing that had been left behind by some maintenance workers that they had “liberated”. 

Donnie nods and after giving Leo a pat on the shoulder, spins into a turn and jumps so that he is facing his monitor. Fingers like lighting, they speed across the keys to start up the program. The platform begins to emit light which becomes a glowing force that Mikey can no longer see through. 

When the light is gone, so is Leo. In his place is a form of a human that is hunched over, their face parallel with the floor, arms limply hanging between their bent legs. It looks like it was taking everything for them to remain standing, even more so when their stunned eyes saw the puddle of blood that was pooling at the person’s feet.

Dressed in black shredded clothes that looked like something straight out of an _awesome_ feudal-Japanese movie. Long dark hair curtained their shoulders, fluttered behind them as they collapsed into a heap on the platform. A sword clattered away and the hilt bumped into Raph’s foot. Mikey feels vaguely sick as he looks down at it. Raph’s drawn-in breath is enough to tell him that he isn’t imagining the resemblance of the blade to _their_ Leo’s Ninjaken. 

Its completely quiet as Raph bends to pick the sword up by it’s square guard. It gleams almost eerily in the light of the lair, its meticulous condition is only solid by the blood staining its length. ‘Donnie,’ Raph says, tone unrecognisable. 

Donnie jolts as if burnt and flies back around to the monitor where the other Donatello is staring wide-eyed at them and what must have been on display. ‘Donatello! Is - is Leo -‘ But Donatello is _staringstaringstaring._ ‘ _Donatello!’_ Donnie snaps desperately.

And Mikey thinks he knows instantly why the air becomes charged so quickly with panic. They weren’t meant to be receiving anyone. Merely sending Leo over. Donnie had been plotting the course to the 90s-verse’s (as they came to calling it for how retro it was) coordinates for _weeks_ after spending months in inventing the new tech for the trip. 

‘No. He’s - he’s not -' Donatello stutters as he calls for his own brothers in the background. ‘No. Not in the lair,’ He says after a minute of muted voices. 

Donnie is so still it's painful, every muscle tense as he looks at his counterpart. Mikey can’t think of anything to say. Something must have gone wrong. It looks like they had switched Leo with someone else. It should have been an alternative version of their brother, and when Raph shoves the sword at Mikey - which he fumbles for a moment - he thinks it could still be. 

Raphie stalks forward, jumps onto the platform and with only the slightest hesitance he bends to turn the stranger over so that they are on their back. They are completely slack to Raph’s hands as he looks for a heartbeat, a pulse.

Mikey all but swallows his tongue when he takes a few steps forward and sees what he hadn't before, partly hidden by thick hair and stained with blood. A blue mask encircling - hiding a pale face. 

Mikey clutches at the sword and knows as he looks at this stranger, that he _has_ to be another version of his brother. Which might be why he relaxes the way he does when Raph is suddenly a motion of movement, hoisting this familiar stranger into his arms with so much ease it _hurts._

‘Donnie, help me bring him to the lab,’ Raph commands already striding out of the room in quick steps as Mikey hurries to follow. ‘Mike, I’m gonna need you to get father.’

Mikey winces. He doesn’t want to leave and he doesn’t want to have to face sensei. Donnie barely spares Donatello a goodbye, doesn’t even pause to turn off communications as he runs after them. ‘This wasn’t meant to happen,’ Donnie says. 

‘I know.’ 

‘I - I wouldn’t have suggested -’

‘I know.’ Raph repeats. Mikey looks between them. Thinks that while Raph isn’t lying, his face is giving nothing away either. ‘Keep calm. We need you to do your thing right now. Apologise later.’ 

Donnie winces but after a long grimace, nods. They’ve all learnt from both Leo being sent away - once upon a time - and Donnie’s own freak out with the cyberspace incident. It wasn’t the time. They had priorities. Donatello could already be looking for Leo but even if he wasn’t, _their_ Donnie was the only one with any experience with treating wounds. (Even if, Mikey couldn’t help but notice with dread, they had never been as bad as this.)

Raph sets his cargo down onto the examination bed immediately when they arrive and makes space. Allowing for Donnie to step in and get to work with steady but frantic hands. ‘Raph, get April. I’m gunna need her.’ 

Mikey feels his stomach tighten and his toes curl but Raph’s face doesn’t move an inch as he nods, and only glances at Mikey for a moment before leaving. ‘Mikey, go get Mastah Splintah,’ he says again before disappearing.

Mikey looks at Donnie that had gone from a composed scientist to a manic not-doctor in a few moments. Donnie, with all his tools and a patient he didn’t expect to have bleeding all over him. He’s wiping down the blood with a clothe to properly see the damage, when Mikey finally takes the excuse offered to him and escapes to go and find their father.

A father who - at this time of day - would be properly immersed in the soaps he liked so much. Who wouldn’t know what had just happened to his eldest.

One thing was for sure, that kept spinning in Mikey’s mind. If Leo had accidentally drawn the shortest straw and had swapped out with Human-Leo (and honestly, didn’t think that _could_ be a thing) than that universe was obviously unfriendly. He’d be in trouble, he’d be alone and worst of all, if that whole world was full nothing but humans…if their counterparts weren’t mutants than… 

Mikey held the sword tighter without realising and sped up. Wishing to whatever, to whoever was up there, that Leo was safe. 


End file.
